23

Look Through My Eyes to See What I See

    If a person has not been introduced to a concept, it makes sense that the person is simply unaware of it. I learned that to unlock a car you press a button on a remote control. Imagine my surprise when I first started driving and the remote control battery died! Lessons learned: using the key is another option to unlock the car! So how can a person be expected to know something if it has never been introduced to them?

    Similarly, if a student grows up in a household where college going was not a tradition, it would make sense that they would need to be introduced to that idea. How can students know what options are available to them? I would like to see an educator go undercover as a teen growing up in a low income community to see exactly what concepts students are being introduced to at home. College is definitely not one of them.

    If educators rode my bus home after school they would see that the students that go home empty handed without homework may not have anyone at home encouraging their success. They would find that students have to feed themselves, watch their younger siblings, and have no structure or supervision. The only thing that students know for sure is what time the bus comes, and that lunch will be served at school. Educators should place more emphasis on assisting students that come to them requesting assistance to put a plan in place for their future. But in my high school, it seemed they only concentrated on getting students out of high school, and we were on our own from there. Our guidance educators “logged off” on us a long time ago.

    My overall experience from guidance counselors was very discouraging. I would not be a student at Virginia Commonwealth University right now if I had relied on them. They actually tried very hard to make my college admission process harder for me.

    My real life story started in 11th grade when my guidance counselor tried to close the door on my future. She asked me to leave the office and return in 12th grade to discuss my college options. She said it was too early for me, and they were focused on seniors. In 12th grade, the guidance office ran out of SAT waivers and instead of ordering more, they just turned the students around. I have an email thread that lasted 41 days while my mother and the principal went back and forth about receiving more waivers. Finally, we had to contact College Board to find out how easy it was to get more, and then involve the superintendent and demand my school order more. I had to ask admissions counselors from Virginia Wesleyan to intervene on my behalf to convince the guidance office to release my transcripts in time to be considered for a merit scholarship. I went to school board meetings and I met with Superintendents, principals and guidance counselors with questions about various protocols about their scholarships, policies and practices on college advising.

    During this process, my mother and I were alienated by the administration, and eventually given the silent treatment. I am quite sure they did back flips when I walked across the stage (with highest honors, and a 3.8 GPA).

    Frustrated, I came up with Club College Boulevard, Incorporated (CCB). My organization was incorporated in the State of Virginia in 2010. CCB assisted nine students gain admission to college for the fall of 2011! We held workshops every week where seniors could apply to colleges, look for scholarships, tours colleges, and register for SAT’s. I was a finalist in the Girls Going Places Entrepreneurship Award from Guardian Life Insurance of America, and I also received 1st place in the 2011 Norfolk NAACP Young Adult Community Award for starting CCB. All I wanted was a program that focuses exclusively on students who will be the first generation in their family to attend college.

    Virginia recently passed a policy to allow a gun safety curriculum be implemented in our schools, but high school students have to access college resources on their own time. My solution is to implement an elective course that guides you step-by-step through the college application process. It should not be a program like Driver’s Ed; which cost the student’s money, and college tour/ field trip costs should be minimal so all youth can afford to go. If we want youth to go to college, we have to expose them to college.

    More information about the type of resources I would like to see put in place in my high school can be found on my website: www.clubcollegeblvd.com. CCB was founded because I do not think the future of an entire zip code of youth should be overlooked because they live in poverty, and they are unacquainted with their options.

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